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We have proof that HfP readers are keen to get travelling again

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Last week was the 12th week that we have been running Head for Points from our various homes.

I’d managed the first 80-odd days without any problems, but last Monday I finally hit a bit of a wall.  On Wednesday I went back into our office – which is an 8-mile round-trip walk – for the day, just to get out of the house.

An 8-mile walk and a day ‘out’ put me in a better mood on Thursday.   And then, out of nowhere, an email popped up from Park Plaza Hotels, offering £99 stays at the five-star Park Plaza Westminster Bridge in London, and €89 stays (€97 with city tax) at the Park Plaza Victoria in Amsterdam.

Park Plaza Westminster Bridge

I thought this was an impressive deal, although it was obviously restricted.  You had to stay by 30th September, and of course at present the Dutch Government isn’t even allowing UK residents to enter the country.  Luckily this was a fully refundable deal.

I popped it onto Head for Points during Thursday, although I didn’t expect much from it.  I probably wouldn’t have bothered at all if I hadn’t already discussed Park Plaza Westminster Bridge in an article earlier that day on the 100% bonus for buying Radisson Rewards points, which is still running if you’re interested.

Within an hour, however, readers were booking.  And they didn’t stop.

On Friday morning the article was emailed out – and booking went crazy.

Park Plaza Victoria Amsterdam

By Sunday night, over £41,000-worth of rooms had been booked via the link in our article.  Many more readers will have booked direct, so the total will easily exceed £50,000.

This is, by any stretch, an amazing response.  Obviously, given that these rooms are refundable, quite a few will be cancelled in the end.  However, you couldn’t ask for a bigger vote of confidence in travel from the HfP readership than booking £50,000-worth of rooms across just two hotels in 48 hours.

The success of this deal has cheered me up considerably.  It is clear that the desire to travel is still as strong as ever amongst our readers, as is their willingness to jump on a good deal.

It’s ironic that this article is being published on the same day that the UK Government is introducing quarantine, effectively killing off both incoming and outgoing tourism.

Few people seriously believe that this will last beyond the end of June, however.  We look forward to sharing the best of the travel bargains with you as Europe, if not the rest of the world, starts to open up this Summer.


How to earn Radisson Rewards points and status from UK credit cards

How to earn Radisson Rewards points and status from UK credit cards (April 2024)

Radisson Rewards does not have a dedicated UK credit card. However, you can earn Radisson Rewards points by converting Membership Rewards points earned from selected UK American Express cards.

These cards earn Membership Rewards points:

Membership Rewards points convert at 1:3 into Radisson Rewards points which is a very attractive rate.  The cards above all earn 1 Membership Rewards point per £1 spent on your card, which converts to 3 Radisson Rewards points.

Even better, holders of The Platinum Card receive free Radisson Rewards Premium status for as long as they hold the card.  It also comes with Hilton Honors Gold, Marriott Bonvoy Gold and MeliaRewards Gold status.  We reviewed American Express Platinum in detail here.

(Want to earn more hotel points?  Click here to see our complete list of promotions from the major hotel chains or use the ‘Hotel Offers’ link in the menu bar at the top of the page.)

Comments (64)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Richmond_Surrey says:

    You could enter Netherlands no problem. Just came back from 2 weeks trip on continent. I stayed in hotels in Poland, Germany and Netherlands.

  • Phil G says:

    As soon as the FCO changes the ‘all but essential travel’ slogan we’re off

    • BJ says:

      Whether you are off or not will owe more to decisions made by other countries than by the FCO. At least most things are moving in the right direction though.

      • Mr(s) Entitled says:

        Travelling against FCO advise must surely have insurance implications? It can’t work both ways:

        – FCO told me not to go, I’d like to cancel and get all my money back via insurance
        -FCO told me not to go, I went anyway, and I would like my insurance to sort any problems while there.

  • MikeL says:

    As someone who now has 4 companion vouchers and 500k avios to burn, I’m also keen to travel but I just don’t see it happening any time soon. Florida is our preferred destination due to the cruise ports there but they had over 4000 new Covid 19 cases the other day – worrying times. .

  • JP_MCO says:

    Has anybody seen or heard anything about when the USA borders might reopen to travellers from the UK?

    • Rob says:

      Remember that most US airports aren’t even open for US citizens flying in from outside. There are only 13 (?) airports across the country accepting international flights and those have dedicated corona facilities.

  • Mark says:

    Booked – just a few moments ago so rooms still available. Thanks for the heads-up!

    • BJ says:

      The offer has been extended until 15 June.

      • Rob says:

        It has ALWAYS said 15th June, even last week, but this made no sense given the ’48 hour flash sale’ email and landing page …

  • BJ says:

    Seems that we can go to Sri Lanka from 1st August but there is now a $100 visa fee, and a requirement for a negative Covid-19 test within 72h of departure, a further test on arrival, and further tests after stayng 5 and 10 day. Sort of puts the UK quarantine and testing strategy into new perspectives.

    • Julian says:

      Its ironic that these third world countries utterly riddled with poverty and every pestilence known to mankind seem to think that they need to react in this hysterical way to this not particularly lethal disease in any historic or properly contextual terms.

      • Anuj says:

        What a outdated view of the world Julian. Developing countries’ entire existence is not to satisfy the whims of some spoilt rich westerners on holiday.

      • ankomonkey says:

        🙂

      • Mark M says:

        +1

      • Jim Lovejoy says:

        Sri Lanka has had 11 deaths in a population of 21 million.
        Which country is riddled with pestilence again?

    • Anna says:

      They (and other countries) should use this opportunity to impose a travel insurance requirement as well, at least for health care. They must get fed up with selfish travellers who seemingly can afford to swan off round the world but not cough up £100 for cover which would stop them from being a drain on local resources and avert the ensuing crowd funding appeals.

      • John says:

        How will they not be a drain on local resources regardless of whether an insurance company or random internet strangers pay for their healthcare?

      • BJ says:

        I think the $100 Visa fee is effectively the insurance. They know they cannot count on individuals having valid cover even if they present a paper so this gets around it. I think it is likely that we will see a lot of such fees under varying descriptions from many countries going forward.

    • Harry T says:

      Who pays for the tests?

  • Sav says:

    Can anyone help in how to activate the Radisson account please? I have joined, but every time I log in it says I must activate and then bounces me back to the log in page? I have tried calling them last week, but still waiting for a call back.

    Regards

    • BJ says:

      Did they send you an email, check spam folder? Years since I signed up so I do not recall but all sorts of accounts accounts are generally activated and verified via email.

  • Trevor says:

    Booked a ‘London Eye’ room for late September. 2 nights. Thanks for the tip Rob.

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